Bivas—the Ladino High School Club of America, held its second National High School Shabbaton from November 7-11 in Seattle, WA. More than three dozen Sephardic high school students gathered for an incredible three-day weekend led by Brotherhood Managing Director Ethan Marcus (New York), Bivas Coordinator Miriam Raphael Klein (Boca Raton, FL), high school educator Avi Garson (New York), and Head of School of the Seattle Hebrew Academy Rabbi Benjy Owen (Seattle).
Students joined from Sephardic communities in Philadelphia, New York, New Jersey, Seattle, Atlanta, Los Angeles, and South Florida, meeting one another for the first time in-person and getting the chance to experience a unique Ladino-speaking weekend. Students first arrived Thursday night, where they had the chance to settle in, meet one another, and learn about the standards and practices for the weekend. Friday morning, students started off the day with a student-led morning Shaharit service, followed by breakfast. Students then participated in a special Sephardic baking session, where they learned how to bake traditional Sephardic meat Borekas and delicious stuffed Grape leaves (Dolmas/Yapraks). In the afternoon, students had the opportunity for some bonding activities, taking a trip downtown to the Seattle Space Needle and exploring the sites.
On Friday night, we joined the Sephardic Bikur Holim Congregation for Kabbalat Shabbat services followed by a community-wide Sephardic Shabbat Dinner with over 140 people, all in honor of the Bivas students! Our Managing Director Ethan Marcus and Bivas Coordinator Miriam Raphael spoke about the importance of the Bivas Program in empowering and educating our next generation of Sephardic leaders. A special highlight was a Devar Torah from Bivas Seattle Chapter leader Isaac Almo, a senior at the Northwest Yeshiva High School, who spoke about the importance of his family's Sephardic tradition from Salonika and its relationship to the week's Perasha.
After a beautiful dinner, our educators Avi Garson and Rabbi Benjy Owen lead two breakout learning sessions on Sephardic philosophy, history, and Torah, with our Bivas students peppering the educators with questions and participating in a robust debate.
After joining Congregation Ezra Bessaroth for a beautiful Shabbat morning service and Kiddush on Saturday, students gathered again together for a private group lunch and Sephardic Pizmonim (traditional Shabbat songs) in Hebrew, along with classic Ladino songs like Kuando El Rey Nimrod and La Vida Dor Por El Raki. In the afternoon, our guest educator Avi Garson gave a few words of Torah to the Community during Seudah Shelisheet (the traditional third meal of Shabbat).
After a beautiful group Avdalah to close out Shabbat, students had the chance to have some downtime with a group pottery making activity, where students made their own Menorahs in preparation for Hanukkah.
On Sunday, after a short group Shaharit and breakfast, we explored the famous Pike's Place Market together in downtown Seattle, and later traveled to the beautiful Snoqualmie Falls overlook. During our closing dinner and program Sunday night, students reflected on the incredible experience of the weekend, providing us important feedback to help us continue to refine and improve our programs for the future.
By the end of the weekend, students were using their Ladino phrases actively, with a Ke Haber? (What’s Up?) question always receiving an enthusiastic response of Todo Bueno! (All Good!) and Mashallah poo poo poo!
Si Kere El Dio – Our next Bivas Shabbaton will be Spring 2025 in Florida – and if you would like to get your teen involved, learn more at bivas.org or reach out to Miriam Raphael Klein at miriam@bivas.org.
Special Mersi Muncho (Thank you) to our Spring Shabbaton Sponsors and in-kind contributors!
Sephardic Bikur Holim Congregation
Congregation Ezra Bessaroth
Joel & Maureen Benoliel
Jack & Adina Almo
Howard & Lynn Behar
The Samis Foundation
Harley & Lela Franco
The Seattle Sephardic Brotherhood
Robert & Leah Gladstein
The Sephardi Federation of Palm Beach County
Jacob & Susan Kohanek
Comentários